Pharmacist, Principal
Listed compensation
$149k-$252k
The week · per this posting · weekdays assumed
Ask the employer about call expectations, weekend coverage, nights and shift pattern and time off.
Job Description
Your Role
The Pharmacy team provides pharmacy benefit management services and strategies to support Blue Shield affordability and membership goals. The Pharmacist, Principal of Pharmacy Line of Business (LOB) Management will report to the Sr.
Manager, Pharmacy LOB Management. In this role, you will support end-to-end pharmacy performance and the development and implementation of current and pipeline pharmacy strategies, including pharmacy product strategy and pharmacy benefit design, to advance pricing, membership growth, and retention objectives.
Our leadership model is about developing great leaders at all levels and creating opportunities for our people to grow – personally, professionally, and financially. We are looking for leaders that are energized by creative and critical thinking, building and sustaining high-performing teams, getting results the right way, and fostering continuous learning.
Responsibilities
Your Work
In this role, you will:
- Develop, analyze & monitor prescription drug, medical claims, and program data to identify opportunities to improve quality and cost of healthcare and to monitor/report performance and outcomes
- Develop project proposals for identified opportunities and support implementation
- Serve as a BSC Pharmacy Services contact and subject matter expert to stakeholders, and manage external relationships (vendors, clients) related to assigned work
- Serve as a primary pharmacy lead to work with Medicare and/or Commercial business units to develop and implement pharmacy products and market initiatives that align with business unit growth and profitability objectives
- Lead and/or actively participate in cross functional processes, including executive audience forums, to brainstorm, influence and recommend pharmacy strategies and initiatives to support value proposition, annual go to market and multi-year roadmap planning
- Provide thought leadership and pharmacy marketplace intelligence to influence product and cost of health care strategy development and prioritization
- Monitor pharmacy program performance, marketplace and mandate requirements, and work cross functionally and coordinate with other business units such as Actuary and Product to support line of business management and develop solutions to differentiate Blue Shield of California
- Support issue resolutions, communications, and solutions development that impact pharmacy benefit and day-to-day operations to ensure lines of business deliverables are met
- Support Pharmacy Care Reimagined strategic initiative implementation as appropriate
- Perform other duties as assigned
Qualifications
Your Knowledge and Experience
- Requires a Doctor of Pharmacy (PharmD) degree
- Requires a currently active and unrestricted California Registered Pharmacist (RPh) license
- Requires 4 years of experience in clinical pharmacy
- Experience working in a managed care or pharmacy benefit management setting is preferred
- Prior experience in presenting pharmacy program recommendations, performance, value and observations to executive leadership is preferred
- Prior experience in pharmacy benefit strategy and solutions development with understanding of pharmacy levers and marketplace requirements is preferred
- Excellent presentation, verbal and written skills with ability to understand and convey complex ideas to audience with diverse backgrounds
- Strong business acumen with proven experience in strategy development and planning
- Proficiency in MS Office products, particularly in MS Word, PowerPoint, and Excel
Hybrid
This role requires employees to be in-office based on our hybrid workplace model, balancing purposeful in-person collaboration with flexibility. For most teams, this means coming into the office two days each week.
Employees living more than 50 miles from an office location will work with their manager to determine in-office time based on business need.
About Blue Shield of California
As of January 2025, Blue Shield of California became a subsidiary of Ascendiun.
Ascendiun is a nonprofit corporate entity that is the parent to a family of organizations including Blue Shield of California and its subsidiary, Blue Shield of California Promise Health Plan; Altais, a clinical services company; and Stellarus, a company designed to scale healthcare solutions. Together, these organizations are referred to as the Ascendiun Family of Companies.
At Blue Shield of California, our mission is to create a healthcare system worthy of our family and friends and sustainably affordable. We are transforming health care in a way that genuinely serves our nonprofit mission by lowering costs, improving quality, and enhancing the member and physician experience.
To achieve our mission, we foster an environment where all employees can thrive and contribute fully to address the needs of the various communities we serve.
We are committed to creating and maintaining a supportive workplace that upholds our values and advances our goals.
Blue Shield is a U.S. News Best Company to work for, a Deloitte U.S. Best Managed Company and a Top 100 Inspiring Workplace. We were recognized by Fair360 as a Top Regional Company, and one of the 50 most community-minded companies in the United States by Points of Light. Here at Blue Shield, we strive to make a positive change across our industry and communities – join us!
Our Values
- Honest. We hold ourselves to the highest ethical and integrity standards. We build trust by doing what we say we're going to do and by acknowledging and correcting where we fall short.
- Human. We strive to listen and communicate effectively, showing empathy by understanding others' perspectives.
- Courageous. We stand up for what we believe in and are committed to the hard work necessary to achieve our ambitious goals.
Our Workplace Model
We believe in fostering a workplace environment that balances purposeful in-person collaboration with flexibility - providing clear expectations while respecting the diverse needs of our workforce. Our workplace model is designed around intentional in-person interaction, collaboration,
connection, creativity and flexibility:
- For most teams, this means coming into the office two days per week.
- Employees living more than 50 miles from an office location, out of state employees, and employees in certain member-facing roles should work with their manager to determine in-office time based on business need.
- For employees with medical conditions that may impact their ability to work in-office, we are committed to engaging in an interactive process and providing reasonable accommodations to ensure their work environment is conducive to their success and well-being.
The Company reserves the right to require more presence in the office based on business needs, and requirements are subject to change with periodic reviews.
Physical Requirements
Office Environment - roles involving part to full time schedule in Office Environment. Based in our physical offices and work from home office/deskwork – Activity level: Sedentary, frequency most of work day.
Please click here for further physical requirement detail.
Equal Employment Opportunity
External hires must pass a background check/drug screen. Qualified applicants with arrest records and/or conviction records will be considered for employment in a manner consistent with Federal, State and local laws, including but not limited to the San Francisco Fair Chance Ordinance.
All qualified applicants will receive consideration for employment without regards to race, color, religion, sex, national origin, sexual orientation, gender identity, protected veteran status or disability status and any other classification protected by Federal, State and local laws.
Qualifications
- Education
- Doctoral or professional degree (postgraduate degree)
- Experience
- 5+ years of experience
Key Skills
Pharmacist Career Context
Of the 43 active Pharmacy listings this role was benchmarked against, 40% are remote, 49% have no call, 44% require no weekends — this position is remote.
The cost-of-living index for California is 110.7 (US average = 100; BEA Regional Price Parities (2024)), so the posted ~$200k midpoint carries the purchasing power of roughly $181k in an average-cost state. 63.6% of California clinicians report burnout symptoms in WeekdayDoc's Burnout Index (2026-01 data).
| Measure | This job | Market |
|---|---|---|
| Listed pay | $149k–$252k | Pharmacy median $160k (middle half $151k–$185k)31 comparable listings, Nov 2026 |
| Cost-of-living adjusted pay | ~$181k in purchasing power | California index 110.7 (US = 100)BEA Regional Price Parities (2024) |
| Pharmacy listings in California | 594 active | 10,225 nationallylive on WeekdayDoc, Nov 2026 |
| Work setting | remote | peers: 40% remote · 49% no call · 44% no weekends43 benchmarked listings |
| Sign-on & loan repayment | not stated | California pharmacist listings (all specialties): 8% state a sign-on bonus (median $10k) · 12% offer loan repayment614 active listings, Nov 2026 |
| New Pharmacy listings | 3,714 in the last 30 days | 3,304 the 30 days before (+12%)U.S., first seen on WeekdayDoc, Nov 2026 |
| Pharmacy pay trend | +3.6% vs prior quarter | —through Oct 2026 |
| Blue Shield of California | silver tier, 85/100 | Top Employers work-life index13 active listings |
Top Pharmacist Jobs
18 matches · ranked by paySalary Distribution
18 jobs · 15 employersAnnual compensation range
Clinical Pharmacist, Advanced Therapeutics: Cardiometabolic and MWL (Ambulatory), 40hr, Day, (Remote)
UMass Memorial Health · Holden, Massachusetts
Pharmacist I w/ $25,000 sign on bonus - Animal Health International
Patterson Companies · Sunnyside, Washington
Senior Clinical Pharmacist
$126k-$174kClinical Pharmacist I - Medicare Part D / Prior Auth (Remote | M-F, 8am-5pm Pacific)
$113k-$170k